


Piece by Piece

by mitigates



Series: Songfics [9]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: A lot of child abuse, Child Abuse, I'll Never Tell, Major Character Injury, Oikawa is the best best friend, Song Lyrics, Songfic, a bit of an AU, hardcore angst, is there a happy ending?, iwaoi - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:48:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25905370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitigates/pseuds/mitigates
Summary: The evolution of what we all know as IwaOi. The horrific struggles Iwaizumi suffered through and what Oikawa did to help.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru
Series: Songfics [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800937
Comments: 4
Kudos: 71





	Piece by Piece

**Author's Note:**

> Please mind the notes. There's severe child abuse in this as well as a major character injury. I kind of poured my heart into this. Please enjoy.

It started when Iwaizumi was a child. He wasn’t more than 4 or 5. It might have started sooner, but 4 was the earliest age he could remember something happening. He was playing outside after it had rained, splashing around in the mud. He went back into his house without thinking about it. He stomped through the kitchen, unintentionally, and tracked mud three steps into the room before he realized what he had done. He figured his mom couldn’t be that upset, it was only a few steps into the kitchen. He reached for a paper towel when he heard the soft footsteps that indicated his mother was coming. She offered him a soft smile that slowly faded as she saw the mess behind him.

“Mama, I’m s-”

She was across the kitchen, her wrist cracking as her hand made contact with his face. He head snapped to the side, the whiplash more painful than the actual strike. The moment he tasted iron in his mouth, heavier footsteps indicated his dad was now in the room as well.

“What are you- Akari! Akari- what the fuck-” His dad yanked his mother back, his larger hand encompassing hers, squeezing it until she whimpered. He raised his own hand and swung the back of it across her face. “What the fuck did I tell you about  _ his face _ ? You  _ do not _ hit him in the face! People will see! For fucks sake, you are both hopeless. Why do I still stick around here?”

Iwaizumi’s best-friend Oikawa didn’t say anything (at least not at first) when Iwaizumi showed up to daycare the next day with a large band-aid on his face. Their caretaker accepted the excuse that he had scraped his face and was feeling self-conscious about it (at the ripe age of 5 Iwaizumi was somehow already self-conscious) so it was not to be removed under  _ any _ circumstances. Oikawa found Iwaizumi in the reading corner with his nose stuffed into a comic book about vampires and werewolves. Oikawa flicked the book and Iwaizumi brought it down slightly, displaying his signature scowl that his mother repeatedly let him know he got from his father.

“What the  _ fuck _ do you want?” At the ripe age of 5, Iwaizumi also had a colorful vocabulary (something he  _ knew _ came from his father).

“Iwa-chan, what are you reading?”

Iwaizumi grunted in response but held the cover closer to Oikawa’s curious face. “A comic.”

Oikawa pulled the book down slightly and stared at the band-aid on his friend's face. “What happened to your face?”

“I scraped it.” Iwaizumi responded as if he had rehearsed it (he had, with his mom the night before. Repeatedly.)

“Liar.” Oikawa somehow always knew Iwaizumi was lying to him. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” He grumbled in response. His throat started feeling tight.

“Hajime-” Oikawa’s voice was soft, holding the kind of comfort Iwaizumi was refused at home. Oikawa was used to the grumbling and grunting he constantly received from his friend. What he wasn’t used to was the tears that started spilling over right in front of him. Iwaizumi didn’t sob, he didn’t hiccup, he didn’t even frown. He kept that same scowl on his face as hot tears painted streaks across his tanned skin. Oikawa simply turned around and left.

Iwaizumi’s breathing started to get erratic and he realized Oikawa had just left him alone. He figured the boy finally got fed up with him like everyone else did. If it was that easy for his parents, it had to be cake for others.

Oikawa returned seconds later and set a chair in front of Iwaizumi. He pulled an easel in front of him and started drawing a picture of a twin-headed monster being beaten by a faceless superhero that had a chest painted with the letters “HI”. Oikawa always said it was just him greeting people but Hajime Iwaizumi knew better. He knew his friend better than that. It took him another few minutes to realize that Oikawa was also blocking him from the prying eyes of others, he realized this as a sob threatened to burst out of his mouth. He gripped the back of Oikawa’s shirt, squeezing the soft cotton between his fingers in a vice grip.

“Miss Nakamura, can we listen to music?” Oikawa asked the question as he pointed at the speakers near the front of the classroom to not drag too much attention to himself. “Please!”

The other kids started getting excited at the idea of having music during their free time and Miss Nakamura happily acquiesced to the request, not noticing the silently sobbing boy behind Oikawa. Iwaizumi had learned, over his few short years of life, how to be silent.

_ And all I remember is your back _

_ Walking towards the airport, leaving us all in your past _

Iwaizumi didn’t see his father again until he was a teenager just finishing middle school. He bled back into Iwaizumi’s life with the same stomach churning glare that he left with. Iwaizumi came home from school and saw his parents sitting together at his dining room table, a suitcase at his mother’s feet. Despite what he had learned from years before with his father, Iwaizumi couldn’t help but light up when he saw him. His happiness was fleeting.

“Hajime. Come sit.”

Iwaizumi sat at the unoccupied chair that was scooted far enough away from the table to be distant, letting him know he wasn’t entirely welcome in the conversation that was about to take place. “Dad-”

His father held up a hand. Iwaizumi frowned at the action but shut his mouth. 

“Your father is going to be staying with you.”

Iwaizumi turned toward his mother in surprise. “With us?”

“Is _that_ what I said, Hajime?” Her tone was sharp and short, causing his eyes to fall to the table.

“Your mother will be leaving.” 

Iwaizumi didn’t bother asking why, his stomach still hurt from the repercussions of asking why he wasn’t allowed to finish his homework the night before. His eyes hurt from trying to read his textbook in the dark. His neck hurt from constantly straining to listen for his mother’s footsteps, lest he be discovered studying after she turned the lights off. His body hurt from the pure stress of his life. He didn’t listen to the rest of their conversation and they seemed to forget he was there as they complained about his schooling in relation to their lives. The arrangement would become that Iwaizumi would be given a bike to get to and from school (which Iwaizumi gawked at as his school was 6 or 7 miles away, but he guessed it could be worse. Biking home 7 miles after volleyball practice was going to be awful on his legs). 

_ I traveled fifteen hundred miles to see you _

_ I begged you to want me, but you didn't want to _

Oikawa didn’t say much the first time he saw Iwaizumi show up to their first period class drenched in sweat. After that day, Oikawa started keeping a spare uniform shirt and jacket in his bag. He offered it to his best friend wordlessly as if it were nothing more than a pencil for him to borrow. Iwaizumi accepted it each day with a nod and wondered if Oikawa’s parents ever got mad at the extra laundry that they were having to do. His dad would be livid if he ever washed anything other than what was needed. Livid was putting it nicely.

“You look skinny.” Oikawa scrunched up his nose at Iwaizumi as he watched him change after one of their practices ran late. 

Iwaizumi glared at him and smacked the back of his head. “Shut up, Shittykawa. It’s just from biking a lot.”

“Liar.” Oikawa always knew. He frowned at the loss of definition that his best friend had built up from years of playing volleyball. He used to be defined throughout his torso and arms, but then he was just thin. Disconcertingly so. Oikawa started paying more attention and realized Iwaizumi was eating three servings of whatever he could get his hands on at lunch. He didn’t think anything of it, they were teenagers after all, but he quickly realized Iwaizumi probably wasn’t eating breakfast or dinner. Oikawa started asking his mom to send him with an extra breakfast. She was more than happy about it . His mom was a chef and she loved to provide food more than anything.

Oikawa held out a breakfast burrito the moment he saw Iwaizumi locking his bike up. Iwaizumi ended up finishing Oikawa’s as well. They walked to class silently that morning.

As they sat in class later that day, Oikawa drummed his fingers against his desk as he watched Iwaizumi practice writing his address on an envelope. He raised his eyebrows as he watched Iwaizumi write the numbers for his street.

“Iwa-chan!  _ That’s _ where you live?” Oikawa asked as he tapped the paper furiously.

“Yes.” Iwaizumi grumbled in response. “Why?”

Oikawa pushed his own envelope in front of his friend. “This is where I live.”

Iwaizumi glanced at the address then looked back at it again immediately. Oikawa had lived five houses down from him all that time. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Colorful language as always, Iwa-chan.” Oikawa leaned his cheek against the shorter man’s shoulder, ignoring Iwaizumi as he tried to shake him off. “You’re riding with me from now on.”

“I can’t-”

“I’m usually ready by 7:15. I like getting an early start on my day.”

“Oikawa, I can’t-”

“Your breakfast will actually be hot from now on!” Oikawa was beaming.

“Crappykawa, I’m not-”

“My mom will be so excited. Sometimes I think she likes you more than me.” Oikawa was not listening to a single sound of disagreement from Iwaizumi. 

Iwaizumi simply rolled his eyes and looked away as a smile tugged at his lips.

_ But piece by piece he collected me _

_ Up off the ground where you abandoned things, yeah _

_ Piece by piece he filled the holes _

_ That you burned in me at six years old _

The day that they had a small graduation ceremony started as one of the best of Iwaizumi’s life. He left for graduation before his dad was up for the day, excited to move on to high school with his friends. He had been accepted to one of the top high schools in the city and his best friends would be going with him. After Oikawa, Iwaizumi met Matsukawa and Hanamaki: another pair of dorky best friends that had known each other since they were kids. They four of them became fast friends.

Oikawa’s mom dropped Iwaizumi off after their graduation party a bit later than Iwaizumi would have liked but he couldn’t help the pure elation he was feeling after being surrounded by his friends for hours. He was smiling all the way to his doorstep. He was smiling until he wasn’t anymore, until he was spitting up blood and coughing out one of his teeth. Iwaizumi’s dad didn’t like that he was late, he didn’t like that Iwaizumi was getting rides to and from school, he didn’t like that Iwaizumi was sneaking food (which Iwaizumi wasn’t, Oikawa was feeding him), he didn’t like that Iwaizumi did this and that and this and that and Iwaizumi stopped listening when he heard a crack in the hand that was covering his head.

Iwaizumi didn’t get to see his friends that summer. He didn’t get to participate in all the usual activities that his friends kept reaching out to him for. He didn’t even see Oikawa for three weeks, his dad told them that he sent Iwaizumi to his grandparents house. Iwaizumi frowned as he heard his dad talking to his best friend. Oikawa knew his grandparents were dead, but in the sad reality that was his life: what could he really do to help Oikawa? His dad was good at covering the bruises with makeup if he had company over. Iwaizumi wasn’t allowed downstairs anymore. It got to the point that he was leaning over the bathroom sink in his bedroom with an old bottle of his mom's prescription pills. He didn’t know what they were or what they would do, but if he took the entire bottle they had to do something, right?

Iwaizumi’s hands were shaking as he tried to unscrew the lid. Childproof also meant teenager proof, apparently. It took his 15 minutes to unscrew the stupid white cap of that stupid orange bottle. He heard something that caught his attention and he dropped the bottle into the sink, half the contents spilling down the drain. His head jerked toward his window and he moved toward it, half expecting his dad to be bolting it shut from the outside.

Another tick against the glass and he peered into the darkness to see the moonlight softly illuminating the face of his best friend. Oikawa was throwing pebbles at his window, straight out of a movie scene. When Oikawa finally spotted Iwaizumi’s darkened face in the window, his face lit up into his brightest smile. Not his signature smile, no, but the kind of smile that didn’t show any of his teeth because it was the genuine smile that only Iwaizumi could conjure from him. 

Iwaizumi clutched his t-shirt and started silently sobbing until his throat hurt from holding it in.

Oikawa picked up the notepad he had set aside for rock throwing and wrote a message on it.  _ I miss you. _

Iwaizumi held his hand up to the cold glass, pressing his forehead against it. He whined against the glass and Oikawa knew Iwaizumi missed him too.

Oikawa turned the page and wrote another message.  _ Are you okay? _

Iwaizumi squinted to read the words. He took a deep breath and nodded.

Oikawa shook his head softly, writing another message.  _ Liar _ .

Iwaizumi wanted so badly to jump out of that window and into the arms of his caring friend that would undoubtedly catch him, but he was scared of what his dad could do if he ever got a hold of Oikawa.

_ And you know: _

_ He never walks away, he never asks for money _

_ He takes care of me, he loves me _

Iwaizumi was able to get out of his house the week before school started. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie as he walked toward Oikawa’s house. It had been a month since that night in front of his house and Iwaizumi was worried his friends were going to be mad at him. He wouldn’t blame them at all. He hesitated before knocking on Oikawa’s door. He looked over his shoulder several times to make sure his dad didn’t see where he was going. He didn’t.

The door to the Oikawa home swung open and Iwaizumi was greeted with the friendliest of faces.

“Mrs. Oikawa- I’m sorry, I’m here to see Tooru. I thought he’d be home, I can go-”

Her face softened and she waved her hand. “Nonsense, Hajime. Please come inside. He’s out back with Makki and Mattsun.” She ushered him into the house and took his coat from him. She noted the long sleeves he was wearing underneath even though it was pushing 85 degrees outside. She frowned at his slim frame, significantly skinnier than he had been at the beginning of summer. Mrs. Oikawa sensed the signs of what was going on slower than she would have liked. She thought it was strange that she ended up doing more laundry than usual as the school days passed. She was even more concerned when Tooru started asking for extra meals in the morning as well as extra snacks to take to school. He never had that big of an appetite. When she first met Hajime, she knew right away. She could see it in the young boy’s eyes. She knew her son and Hajime had been friends since they were younger but Hajime was rarely available outside of school hours. Tooru talked about him nonstop, the obvious blossoming relationship was something she enjoyed teasing her boy about, something about watching his light-skinned face flame up at her mentioning his name was forever entertaining. 

Mrs. Oikawa didn’t notice the bruises at first. His mother did well to hide them. She assumed that the woman used makeup, but Hajime’s father was less skilled. After Hajime’s mother disappeared and his father became more prominent in his life, Mrs. Oikawa noticed the bruises more. She let her husband know what they were seeing and although they called for welfare checks to be done for Hajime, nothing ever came of it.

“Hajime- can I speak to you for a moment before you head outside?”

Iwaizumi nodded and followed Oikawa’s mother into the kitchen. He sat obediently at the stool near the kitchen island, folding his hands in his lap.

Mrs. Oikawa leaned over the counter, her chin resting on her palms. She drummed her fingers against her cheek for a moment before speaking. “Hajime- I don’t know how else to say or ask this, other than to just come out with it. Please tell me… are you okay?”

Her voice was laced with an unfamiliar amount of concern, something he had only ever heard from Tooru. His eyebrows knitted together as he stared back at her. He nodded. “Yes, ‘m fine.”

She frowned and reached for his hand, taking it in her smaller one. “You can come to us if anything is wrong, you know that right?”

Iwaizumi hesitated before nodding, hoping she didn’t notice. “Of course, Mrs. Oikawa.”

She did notice. She gave him a smile and nudged him toward the door. “Have fun.” Mrs. Oikawa pulled her phone out and shot a text to her husband.  _ We need to help him. _

Of course Oikawa’s mom knew, she was just like her son. Iwaizumi started thinking that the only thing Oikawa didn’t know was how in love with him Iwaizumi was. He fought against it at first, he fought against the heat that was left behind in the wake of Oikawa’s touch. He tried to fight against the feeling that flooded his body whenever he saw the other teenaged boy. He tried (and miserably failed) to fight against the pangs of jealousy that ripped through him after seeing all the attention he received from other girls.

“Why are you always so mean, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa rubbed the red spot on his shoulder where Iwaizumi had beamed a volleyball at him after practice ended.

“Why do you flirt with every girl that moves?” Iwaizumi didn’t mean to say the words out loud, but out they tumbled. He scowled at the floor.

Oikawa raised both eyebrows then narrowed his eyes slightly. “Why does it matter who I flirt with? I’m single, Iwa-chan, nobody actually wants me, ya know.”

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. They both heard a schoolgirl giggling and looked over to see a first year girl squealing over the newest member of the team, a setter that Oikawa hated on principle. It started as principle then slowly morphed into something more as Oikawa realized that the other setter, Kageyama, had a natural talent that Oikawa had spent years honing and perfecting. It wasn’t until Oikawa was benched for the boy that Iwaizumi realized how severe his best friend’s jealousy had gotten.

Iwaizumi was there when Oikawa raised a hand to the smaller boy who just wanted to learn. His instincts kicked in as he blocked the incoming hit. Kageyama didn’t even realize what was happening, his eyes still bright as he literally and figuratively looked up to Oikawa. After he left, Iwaizumi broke down. The second that the doors closed signaling Kageyama’s departure, Iwaizumi shattered. 

He struggled to catch his breath as Oikawa rubbed circles into his back. Iwaizumi flinched at the touch. “You- you- you-”

Oikawa frowned, not understanding exactly what was going on.

“You- you can’t- Tooru!” Iwaizumi gasped for breaths as Oikawa finally realized what happened.

“I wasn’t- I didn’t mean to, Iwa-chan. I wouldn’t have-” Oikawa’s soft pleas were cut off immediately.

Iwaizumi spun around in pure rage. “Yes, you were! You were going to hit him! You can’t hit him, Tooru! You can’t be like that- not you too!”

Oikawa pulled his slightly shorter friend against his chest, wrapping his arms around him tightly as he continued to cry. He murmured apologies and praises into Iwaizumi’s neck until the sobbing stopped and all that remained of his crying was a light sniffle. 

_ Piece by piece, he restores my faith _

_ That a man can be kind and the father could, stay _

High school started off normal enough. The high school was a lot closer to his house so biking it wasn’t as bad. Oikawa ended up getting a bike too and they met up with Makki and Mattsun on their way, the four of them riding and laughing and joking together. They all ended up joining the volleyball team together. Iwaizumi’s father was around less after starting a new job so Iwaizumi had it a bit easier at home.

An anonymous complaint filed with Children and Family Services had a social worker coming to their house once a week. Iwaizumi was made to claim the bruises that he had were from volleyball, repeatedly reassuring the social worker that nothing was going on at home. His father listened in to the conversations as he waited for his son to slip up with  _ anything _ that she could use against him. She never did end up seeing the belt marks across his back or the scarred burn marks on his thighs.

Iwaizumi was doing better in school and that was reflected in the reports that the social worker went back to her cubicle with.

Iwaizumi felt bad for the woman, she had to come and investigate the truths others were noticing only for him to repeatedly lie. He hated making her job harder, but he would rather she stumbled at her job a few times than risk the one time his father accidentally kills him. His dad started travelling for work more so the bruises were less often. Iwaizumi got better at hiding them. If his dad punched him in a particular spot on his torso, Iwaizumi would make sure to repeatedly dive on that spot the next couple of days in practice. The worried looks he got from Oikawa hurt more than the actual bruises. 

He hated lying to his best friend but he appreciated that somehow Oikawa always knew. He always knew.

Things were going well enough until graduation day.

Iwaizumi would miss walking across the stage for his final year of high school. Oikawa would spend the day crying and blame it on the loss of his friends that would be either not graduating or going to different colleges, but they all knew it was because Iwaizumi wasn’t there.

Iwaizumi was in the hospital with a brain bleed.

His emergency contact was Mrs. Oikawa and she made it to the hospital before Hajime’s dad did. Hajime’s dad didn’t end up showing but that wasn’t to Hajime’s surprise. The last thing he remembered was his father telling him that he was moving  _ alone _ . That was before his father’s fist made a sickening crack as it struck the side of Hajime’s head.

It was by some miracle that a delivery driver found him after noticing the door was just barely left open. The horrified driver found young Hajime face down in a pool of his own blood, unconscious.

Mrs. Oikawa couldn’t bear to tell her son what had happened, not at first anyway. She left her husband behind to let Tooru know where they were going. She stopped in the doorway to Hajime’s room after the kind nurses led her there. Her hand flew to her mouth as she stifled a gasp. 

Hajime looked  _ broken _ . He had a tube in his nose that was probably feeding him the most nourishing meal he ate outside of the Oikawa home. He was attached to a ventilator as it breathed for him while his body recovered. The side of his face was bruised almost beyond recognition. The new thing that she noticed about the point were his purple hands. She gingerly touched the cast he had on his right hand, holding back tears as she saw the bandages wrapped around the fingers of his other hand.

“He put up a fight.”

Mrs. Oikawa nodded to the nurse reading his vitals. She forced a smile as she stared at the boy who looked small in the hospital gown. “He did.”

_ And all of your words fall flat _

_ I made something of myself and now you wanna come back _

_ But your love, it isn't free, it has to be earned _

_ Back then I didn't have anything you needed so I was worthless _

Tooru rushed to the hospital as fast as his dad would drive him, his fingernails digging crescents into his skin. He wrung his hands and looked down at them, remembering the night his best friend sobbed at his window and Oikawa just  _ knew _ that he wasn’t okay.

“This is my fault.” Oikawa whispered to himself. “It’s my fault. It’s my fault. It’s my fault-”

“ _ Tooru _ .” Mr. Oikawa’s voice was more stern than Tooru had ever heard it before. He would have been worried if he didn’t know how gentle his dad’s true nature was, something his best friend had never once experienced. “This is not your fault. This is not Hajime’s fault. Remember that.”

Oikawa tore through the hospital, finally running into his mother as she sat in a chair outside of his room. Oikawa’s parents didn’t cry- they just didn’t. They were happy and loving and caring and the best parents a kid could ask for and they just didn’t cry. Seeing the tear stairs across his mother’s face tore Oikawa’s heart apart. Watching his father try and comfort her in whispered praises against her hair shattered him.

“Mom- mommy-” Tooru reached for his parents and hugged them tightly.

“Tooru, baby, please remember when you go in there- please just… That isn’t Hajime. It isn’t. Hajime will come back to us. Just remember that, my love.” Mrs. Oikawa squeezed her son, almost suffocatingly.

Tooru pulled open the glass door and felt the sting of bile rising in his throat. He covered his mouth and sprinted into the small bathroom, immediately emptying the contents of his stomach.

He rinsed his mouth out and turned back toward his best friend. Back toward his childhood friend. Back toward his teammate and classmate. Back toward the only person he had ever wanted to love. He pulled up a chair and rested his head near Iwaizumi’s damaged hand. 

“I’m so sorry.” Oikawa whispered the words. 

He spent the next couple of weeks at Iwaizumi’s bedside, waiting patiently for him to wake up. On day 3 he read Iwaizumi’s favorite comic books, taking the time to act out voices like he had done before. He could practically hear Iwaizumi in his head making fun of his awkward attempts at feminene voices, calling him every insult under the sun that he could end with “-kawa”.

On day 5, Makki and Mattsun visited, nervous as ever, and they played a way too long game of Uno. Iwaizumi hated the game as it always went on for hours whenever they all got together.

Maybe that was what made him wake up.

On day 7,Oikawa sat at Iwaizumi’s bedside watching a documentary on Mars that he hadn’t seen before and stuffed a rice ball into his mouth. “See, Iwa-chan? I told you we could live on Mars. Maybe in the future. We could probably live on Jupiter too. Someday. I just like the name-  _ Jupiter _ .” Oikawa laughed to himself, ignoring the tight feeling in his chest. He glanced at his sleeping best friend. “Please.”

Maybe that was what made him wake up.

On day 9, Oikawa sat through the newest Godzilla movie after illegally downloading it on his laptop. He complained the entire time because he was upset that it turned out the monsters were all from Earth and  _ not _ an alien planet. He had watched Cloverfield before and was excited to see that they showed the monster dropping from the sky in the final seconds of the movie. Godzilla, however, had an entirely different explanation. Oikawa was incredibly enthralled watching Godzilla stomp on enlarged insects and shooting his lava beam into their mouths. He giggled at the blossoming relationship between Godzilla and Mothra, accepting Iwaizumi’s love for the big monster movies. 

Maybe  _ that _ was what made him wake up.

On day 13, Oikawa’s heart was hurting. His chest felt heavier with each breath he took. He constantly felt like crying but was desperately trying to hold himself together for Iwaizumi’s sake. He was failing miserably. He was sobbing against the stark white hospital sheets for the 19th time that day when he felt the smallest twitch. He squeezed Iwaizumi’s bandaged fingers and flew backward when Iwaizumi squeezed back.

That was what made him wake up.

_ But piece by piece he collected me _

_ Up off the ground where you abandoned things, yeah _

_ Piece by piece he filled the holes _

_ That you burned in me at six years old _

“Iwa-chan? Iwa- Iwaizumi-” Oikawa knelt next to the hospital bed, hanging over the cold plastic railing. He delicately touched his best friend’s face, carefully carding his fingers through that untameable hair. “Hajime- please. Please, please, please. Please.” The words were whispered in a repeated beg. Oikawa said them over and over until he felt another squeeze.

“Tooru.”

Oikawa had to blink rapidly and pinch himself to ensure he was still in the beautiful reality where Iwaizumi was still alive. He pressed his fingers to Iwaizumi’s face. “Hajime?”

“I would want you.” Iwaizumi’s words came out hoarse and broken.

“W-what?” Oikawa asked through the tears that he didn’t even realize were falling.

“Crappykawa… you said that once before- that nobody would actually want you.You’re so stupid.”

Oikawa sputtered in response at the raspy condescending words coming out of Iwaizumi’s mouth. “You just woke up- and already- you just- Hajime!”

Iwaizumi nudged Oikawa’s hand with the side of his cast. “I would want you.”

Realization crept across Oikawa’s face at his best friend's words. He felt small in front of the best person he knew, even as he laid in a hospital bed. He felt unworthy. “You would?”

“I do.”

“You do?”

Iwaizumi breathed slowly and nodded. “I do.” He reaffirmed as he slipped into an unconsciousness than yanked him away from reality with unrelenting fingers. Iwaizumi fought against it as hard as he could, but his injured brain wasn’t ready for the fight.

_ And you know: _

_ He never walks away, he never asks for money _

_ He takes care of me, he loves me _

_ Piece by piece, he restored my faith _

_ That a man can be kind and a father could, stay _

Oikawa visited Iwaizumi as much as he could. His friends visited, their coaches visited, the Oikawa parents visited and laughed at his bedside while their son told the best stories that would have Hajime red in the face. 

The older Iwaizumi was never found, he disappeared off the face of the planet. His mother never reappeared either. It wasn’t like it mattered, Hajime’s healthcare was being taken care of by the state as well as fundraisers led by his friends and his alma mater so he wouldn’t wake to hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical debt. 2 years passed and words of encouragement to move on from people he thought were his friends were starting to eat away at him. Not because he thought he should move on, but because there were so few people around him that genuinely believed Iwaizumi would wake up one day. 

  
  


“What has his brain activity been like?” 

“I don't know what makes you think I’d know the answer to that question, Shirabu.” Oikawa narrowed his eyes at the med student in front of him that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Apparently he was doing a rotation in the unit the Iwaizumi was bedridden in. 

“I wasn’t asking you, Oikawa.” Shirabu rebutted with a glare. He pointed at the tall intern tailing him. 

“It’s been minimal. He's been exhibiting cognitive activity in response to commands even though he hasn't been reacting visibly. It's a good sign. We’ve been monitoring-”

“Yes, yes,  consciousness is a multifaceted and ambiguous concept- blah, blah, blah, I read the brochures too. Can I get an adult doctor in here?” Oikawa grumbled as he continued scowling at the young doctors.

Shirabu sighed, wrote something down on Iwaizumi’s chart, and shooed his interns away. He leaned in the doorway, hovering for a moment. “Have you eaten today?”

Oikawa held up an empty fruit cup in response. Shirabu sighed again and left him alone.

  
  


Koushi visited a few days later after giving his students a tour of the hospital.

“Isn’t touring a hospital a bit... _ morose _ ?” Oikawa asked from his perch near the window. He was curled up as small as his long legs could go, his head resting upon his crossed arms.

“Isn’t living in one a bit glum?” Koushi asked with a tilt of his head.

“Are you a walking thesaurus?” 

Koushi snorted and pulled a chair next to the window. “How are you doing?”

“He’s doing fine. He’s always doing fine.”

“That’s not what I asked, Tooru.” Koushi admonished without an ounce of bite.

“You asked-”

“-how  _ you’re _ doing.” Koushi finished, turning toward the brunette. 

Koushi’s eyes were soft, too soft to be real sometimes. “I’m-” Oikawa couldn’t finish the sentence.

Koushi stood and reached for his friend, pulling Oikawa against him gently. 

  
  


Makki and Mattsun visited a few months later. They both had moved out of the city and visited on the same day so they could keep Oikawa company in the fluorescently lit hospital room.

“-and he didn’t even save me any! It was madness.”

“Absolute madness. I still can’t believe it.”

“He’s a heathen.”

“An absolute heathen.”

“Disrespectful!”

“So much disrespect.”

“It’s not like a person only gets one birthday.”

“Exactly, they get one every single year.”

“He could have had more the next year!”

“Exactly! Next year! A year isn’t even that long.”

Oikawa stared between the two men in front of him wondering what the fuck they were discussing. “So you’re telling me that you two are this mad because he didn’t share his custom-made birthday cake that cost more than I would even pay for a watch.”

They nodded in unison. “Yes.”

Oikawa burst into laughter, pure airy laughter that made his eyes water and his stomach hurt. 

  
  


Kindaichi and Kunimi found themselves lolling around the hospital room around Iwaizumi’s birthday. Everyone else had left for the day, murmuring praises to Oikawa, prayers and hopes and other intangible things that he didn’t need. He appreciated it, deep down, but he was tired of it.

Kindaichi stood closest to Iwauzmi’s bedside. Oikawa could tell he wanted to reach out. They had just graduated high school and the feeling of graduation brought back all the memories that Oikawa had pushed to the back of his head. Memories of Iwaizumi’s tanned skin littered with blemishes put there by his father's fist. He pushed them out again as he nudged Kindaichi.

“You can touch him. It’s fine.”

Kindaichi froze all over again, the tips of his ears turning red.

“Kindaichi always had a crush on iwaizumi, so he probably won’t.” Kunimi watched with a bored expression on his face as he tilted his head back and emptied a bag of M&M’s into his mouth. 

If Kindaichi’s skin color could change into a permanent shade of crimson, it would have that day. Oikawa snorted, an ugly laugh that only existed around the friends that knew him best, and put his hand on Kindaichi’s shoulder.

“Me too.”

  
  


Oikawa found himself clinging to Iwaizumi’s warm hand another few months later, shedding more tears than he thought he would ever be able to muster. It was Mrs. Oikawa’s birthday and she and Tooru’s dad were struck by a drunk driver on their way to her birthday dinner. They were killed on impact and Tooru didn’t know what to do. He didn’t realize he was in the same hospital as his best-friend's unmoving body until he was vomiting in the same bathroom he’d graced with the presence of his stomach contents before. He clutched his mother’s favorite scarf that he had brought from home and ran. Visiting hours were long over but the nurses paid Oikawa no mind as he slipped into Iwaizumi’s room.

_ Piece by piece I fell far from the tree _

“Please, please, please- I can’t do this without you anymore, Iwa-chan. Please, help me-”

_ I will never leave her like you left me _

“Please wake up. If you’ve ever wanted to do anything for me then do this. You have to wake up. You have to wake up and you have to stay awake.” Oikawa pressed his forehead against Iwaizumi’s limp forearm.

_ And she will never have to wonder her worth _

“Pleasepleasepleaseplease-” His desperate whispers faded in knotted sobs. “I need you.”

_ Because unlike you, I’m gonna put her first _

Iwaizumi opened his eyes slowly as if he was recognizing light for the first time. He winced at the pressure in his head and on his body. It took him a moment to realize there was a lanky brunette hanging over him, clinging to him like Iwaizumi was a lost life raft in the middle of the ocean. Iwaizumi coughed and realized there was a tube in his throat. He started choking around the rubber, the brunette jumped off of him and started yelling nonsensically. 

A horde of doctors and nurses filtered into the room, pushing the brunette out of sight. They made quick work of removing the breathing tube as well as the NG tube. Iwaizumi coughed a few more times before being instructed to follow a light, follow fingers, tell them his name and where he was. He scowled at the amount of stupid questions he had to answer, Part of him wanted to tell them he wanted to get the hell out of there so he would be able to make it to graduation on time. He didn’t even understand why he was there. The horde slowly dissipated as his bed was raised to a sitting position. He grumbled more answers, consented to blood tests, and kept his eyes on the wide-eyed man in the corner of his room.

“Who  _ are _ you?” Iwaizumi finally asked.

Oikawa stilled. The nurses who had grown fond of the boy stilled. The doctor looking at his chart stilled. The world stilled. Oikawa’s mouth fell open as his jaw started to tremble.

Iwaizumi snorted, coughing as it tickled his raw throat. “I’m just joking, Shittykawa. Like I could forget a face like that.” Oikawa started sobbing, snot and sweat and tears mingling with his face. Iwaizumi scowled. “You’re such an ugly crier. How long was I out? A few days? How long have you all had to deal with this?” Iwaizumi patted Oikawa’s head as he sobbed against Iwa’s shoulder.

Oikawa raised his head, eyes wide again, sniffling obnoxiously. “Hajime-” Oikawa wiped his eyes quickly and placed his palms on either side of Iwaizumi’s face. “Hajime- you told me that you want me. Do you remember?”

Iwaizumi’s face flushed immediately. Had he said that out loud? “I- I- what is this- what are you-”

Their first kiss was in a dimly lit hospital room surrounded by a pair of nurses and two other doctors. Their first kiss was light and soft and hesitant because Oikawa didn’t know if Iwaizumi meant what he said. After all, he said it then basically died for almost 3 years. 

Oikawa pulled back and studied Iwaizumi’s face. “Do you remember?”

Iwaizumi hadn’t opened his eyes yet. He blinked back into existence slowly, taking in every new line on Oikawa’s face. He wasn’t eating well or sleeping well, Iwaizumi could always tell because he knew what it looked like on himself. His hair was a little bit longer, a little bit darker, and a lot fluffier. His face left any trace of high school behind and looking at Oikawa told Iwaizumi that he hadn’t been in that hospital for only a few days. He nervously licked his bottom lip and swallowed audibly. “Remember- what? What exactly?” Oikawa’s face fell and Iwaizumi decided he should probably stop teasing him. “I do remember that I love you.”

Oikawa  _ squealed _ and flung his arms around Iwaizumi.

“Someone please get this idiot off of me. Everything hurts.”

Oikawa muttered insults as he reluctantly got off of the bed, not letting go of Iwaizumi’s hand.

“So give it to me straight: how long was I out?”

The doctors shared a curt glance then turned toward Oikawa. “It might be easier coming from a friend, Mr. Oikawa.”

Oikawa bit his lip hard, his eyebrows furrowing together. Iwaizumi knew that meant Oikawa wanted to lie to him but knew he should. Iwaizumi laughed dryly. “What? A couple of weeks? Months?” He swallowed again as Oikawa lowered himself to sit on the edge of his bed.

Oikawa reached forward and ran his fingers through his best-friend’s wispy hair, smoothed from the years of lack of product. “I love you too, Hajime.”

_ He'll never walk away, _

_ He'll never break her heart _

_ He'll take care of things, he'll love her _

Iwaizumi settled into the soft bed and curled around the multitude of pillows Oikawa had insisted they keep on the bed. Half of them were decorative and would end up on the floor before they even settled in.

“Oh, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa’s voice rang out through their shared apartment.

Iwaizumi shoved his head underneath his pillow and tried to disappear. 

It had been a year since Iwaizumi was discharged from the hospital after spending almost 3 full years in a coma. Oikawa immediately asked (forced) his best friend to move in with him. Oikawa failed to mention that they were going to be sharing the only bed in his quaint one bedroom apartment, but Iwaizumi couldn’t find it in himself to mind. He spent the first few months catching up on important things he had missed: pop culture, the evolution of cell phones, a virus that shut down the world for a year, wild conspiracy theories. He was also privy to Oikawa’s visiting schedule while he was in the hospital. He learned that Oikawa was there  _ every single day _ . He learned that Oikawa was there when he woke up the first time and basically confessed to the wavy-haired thorn in his side that he had grown to love. The last thing he learned was that Oikawa’s parents died the day that he woke up. Oikawa was so caught up in Iwaizumi actually being alive that he let his feelings slide until he sat up with a start one night, gasping for air as he remembered.

Iwaizumi moved in the day he was discharged and it had been just the two of them ever since. Iwaizumi went to rehab for 8 months, relearning things his brain was refusing to help him with. Oikawa was there every step of the way. He was there when Iwaizumi was too frustrated to form words, he was there when Iwaizumi grinned in success as he did exactly what he was trying to do.

However, there was still a typical air of annoyance that seeped into his skin when Oikawa decided to run around calling him Iwa-chan. He continued shoving his face into the pillow until he heard the door open.

“Ohhh, were you waiting for me  _ naked _ ?” Oikawa squealed again, a noise Iwaizumi had grown used to. Oikawa ripped the blanket off of him and was distinctly perturbed by the fact that Iwaizumi was only shirtless, still wearing a pair of basketball shorts. He sucked his teeth in frustration but was happy to see the back muscles that he had memorized, the ones that made themselves known again after Iwaizumi was eating and working out regularly. “You’re not naked, but you can be.” 

Iwaizumi grunted in response, but didn’t move. 

Oikawa removed his own shirt and stretched out next to his boyfriend. They hadn’t had sex since they started actually dating. Iwaizumi never seemed ready and Oikawa was happy to wait. They did  _ other things _ and Oikawa was fine with that. He flung his arm over Iwaizumi’s back and pressed his knuckles into his side, rubbing circles.

“I love you, Tooru.”

Tooru started sputtering and blubbering, red-faced and stuttering. Iwaizumi turned to the side with a wide smile, always enjoying his boyfriend’s emotional struggles. He found it incredibly endearing.

_ Piece by piece, he restored my faith _

_ That a man can be kind and the father should be great _


End file.
